Miami-Dade Mayor Reverses County Status As Immigrant Sanctuary
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has signed a memorandum undoing the county's status as an immigrant sanctuary.
It comes a day after President Trump vowed to cut off federal funding for so-called "sanctuary cities." Miami-Dade County was on the Department of Justice's official list.
The memo comes in response to the president's Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.
"Miami-Dade County complies with federal law and intends to fully cooperate with the federal government," the memo read. "I will partner with the Board of County Commissioners to address any issues necessary to achieve this end."
Gimenez ordered county jails to comply with federal immigration detention requests.
In the past, the county had refused to indefinitely detain inmates who are in the country illegally because the government doesn't fully reimbursing the county for the expense.
"We would not hold them unless they guaranteed that we would get reimbursed. Now, today, my order says 'don't worry about the guarantee,'" he explained. "If the federal government wants us to hold the individual.. We will hold them for the federal government, that's the only change."
The mayor changed the policy so that the county would not lose federal funds as a so-called "sanctuary city."
Those at a Downtown Miami immigration rally were concerned that police would become agents of Homeland Security.
"I think that strikes a nerve," one rally goer said.
But Mayor Gimenez said nothing has really changed.
"Our officers are not immigration officers. Every once in a while we will arrest an illegal immigrant for a crime, like anybody else," he said.
Late Thursday evening, President Trump tweeted out his approval of the mayor's decision.
